The Gift of the Golden-eyed Girl
by PhantomlikeGirl
Summary: A short story about a strange traveler Yona and Hak's friends encounter during their journey home through the Kouka kingdom. This person is very similar to Yona and therefore their pathways seem destined. Or is this mistaken?
1. Chapter 1

1.

The woods were said to be safe and narrow, and that there would be no one to ever enter it without coming out. The only thing I'd brought with me onto this long journey were my father's remains hidden under the casket from the small incensory he'd built it a long time for the sake of his wife. The entire object looked rather handful and heavy-looking, but I carried it since he'd passed away, following into the footsteps of my mother, as they both met in the grey heavens, while I was left with the mission to return him to his hometown.

My mother had passed away at my birth and my father had soon grown weak to raise a child on his own, therefore he placed me under the care of some long-forgotten samurai who believed he should not be given indications as to what a child needs, especially a woman such as myself, who could not be anyone's wife, since I lacked the judgement of a female and did not understand people all the same.

When this samurai too passed away, a few days after he had placed his hand over my shoulder and had told me so of the tragedy himself, I had been reminded of my father's dying wish, to have his ashes scattered across the land of his family once more.

Therefore I decided to pass through the woods alone, unattended and without a map. Someone by the entrance to the woods had been kind enough to explain that once I'd keep a straight line and not stray, I would be able to find out the way without any trouble. But the place itself was crawling with beasts, thieves and all sort of evil of its kind, and that no one would bother befriending me, instead they would look to do evil and destroy me in order to take away any valuable possession I might have.

I assured this person that I had none except for the incensory and the clothes I wore. There would not even be money to steal, for I had none and I made no use of it either.

I enjoyed sinking most of my time. I would spend so much time alone that I would sometimes forget just how strong I sounded whenever I sung. I had discovered this ability during a stormy night when I was almost attacked by thieves and had managed to live to tell the tale to anyone who could ever be interested in.

There were words coming to me like rivers of knowledge, for I came from some other world, I knew it for certain, even the language I'd sometimes sing sounded much more familiar had it came from somewhere else.

It was natural that I kept singing through the woods, as I trespassed without knowledge of what perils laid ahead. This person who had been kind enough to explain to me the sheer stupidity of my entering the forest without company had also drawn his attention against the rather attractive-looking punch which he undoubtedly believed that it would be filled with gold, but it would be with herbs I had gathered from my travels nearby and I had feasted from occasionally, when the hunger became too unbearable to sustain.

The weather looked fine and sunny, with birds chirping nearby through the trees, while the sun often shaded away from the path, while penetrating the leaves in an attempt to lighten my way and comfort me.

I was naturally singing, for I believed no one would hear me and indeed, I couldn't care less if I were to be followed. It was told to me that my father's strength, although reduced to ashes, still lingered on and was supposed to passed down onto his kin once after death. But I was not his kin and neither had my mother been when she had been found wandering through the village some thirty or so years ago. She was but a child then, perhaps of four years of age and no one knew where she would come from or how she came to enter the realm of this empire.

The land was known to her as Kouka and the ruler called Il, yet he was not very greatly regarded, since he preferred the world of peace instead of that of war.

The languages my mother taught me as she spoke to me through the underbelly she carried me for several months were impossible to pronounce and impossible to hear in this realm. She alone would know them and she would ensure that she would pass them onto me, as I would onto the child I would once bear. My father was a strong man, and naturally, I took some of its traits, including the golden sight of his eyes and the dark blackness of his hair. The quietness and the ignorance of my mother was passed down onto me as well. But she had promised to me once, just before the pain of labors began, that she would not stop until she passed down onto me the gift of singing and of speaking into a language belonging to the world she came from, a world living into a different dimension than that of Kouka and a world where evil prevailed no matter the result of its battle against good.

'You should never return there, my child, even if you ever learn the path towards there. It would be a great loss, yet here you could pass onto the languages and the things I've taught you. You may find a hearty man to wed you and to become someone you would respect and look up to, and together, you could build a country of your own, with your children and the knowledge I gave you. You would alone build an empire of your own, you could become a Goddess and a ruler at the same time.'

I soon reached a river floating own against the pathway heading towards the exit – or so I thought – and I took the time to stray and head downward so that I would freshen up. I was still singing, of course, loud so that I would hear myself, and each word I pronounced had a meaning to me, I knew its very core and the letters it was formed from, what the meaning of it was and how many variations of pronunciation there would exist. I built new words, phrases and sentences mentally, against my judgement on singing, even though whatever I sang would never be understood by others.

My lungs did not hurt from the singing. I knelt down beside the river, while singing and I cupped up my hands to soak my face in water and to have a few drops from it atop of my tongue. I let my hand slip under the water while I concentrated on the song and on the words. The lyrics slipped through my head like this water through my fingers and the words came in so naturally, I almost assumed my mother for once had descended from the skies in order to steal away my body and sing with my voice. I tried to intone one phrase and linger on the words as long and as loud as I possibly could, just to see how far I would be able to sing.

When I ended it, I played with water, but I barely noticed someone had come beside me, only a few feet away. When I looked to my right, there she was. A small, frail-looking young woman, very much my age, with a bundle of short red hair, which reminded me of rubies and of the sun at dawn. Her bright violet eyes stared straight at me, as if she had gotten lost wandering through the forest in search of – undoubtedly – the source of the singing voice, and when she finally gotten to the bottom of it, she felt relieved, but more importantly overwhelmed at the thought that it might have been yet another girl producing it.

There was much difference between me and this young woman. I could not give her more than sixteen years of age, and while I was soon to be seventeen, I looked much stronger than she, although there was a bow in her hand and a bundle of arrows behind her, as she carried them. I believed they were not so overwhelming if her frailty was enough to carry them, but in truth, she looked like no ordinary huntress.

'A-ano… gomen' she spoke when she finally realized we both stared at each other strangely. 'I didn't mean to stare.'

I straightened up and brushed against my black cloak. She too had one over her dark purple dress, but it looked light yellow and much more feminine than mine. 'It's alright.'

'I'm sorry to disturb. But you… you were the one singing, where you not?'

'I guess I was.'

'It was very beautiful.'

I nodded and then I came down from the river bank, and headed onto the main road, without saying another word. So the kind helper by the entrance to the forest not only had eyed my pouch, but he had also sought to lie about the presence of other travelers into the woods, so as to scare me off.

Before this girl said anything, some other male voice called up the word "Yona" and to it, the girl startled. She turned around and a pack of males surrounded her quickly.

'Yona! Where have you wondered off too? We thought you'd gotten lost or something.'

'Yun… it's alright. I'm sorry to have worried you, I… I heard this girl's voice singing and I just couldn't… couldn't help. Oh!'

'Girl?'

There was a stop of conversation, before I reached the main road and headed straight for the path returning back onto the journey of my own. 'A-ano… gomen nasai…!'

I stopped, while I heard the girl's voice again. I turned around and a loud gurgle came out form my stomach, while I now could see the bunch of male friends she hid behind her, as she quickly stared at me confused, before smiling. 'Are you hungry?'

'Ah, Yona should not invite strangers to dine with us so easily', one of the boys said, as he looked slightly to our age, a light shade of pink hair and a heavy-looking bag settled against his shoulder onto the opposite hip. He'd caught his hair to one side and he looked slightly feminine. From the voice, I could tell he was a young male of sixteen or so, but the bright blue eyes and the femininity of the facial features fooled me into believing he might be a girl after all. Another blonde long-haired boy looked about the same age as he and his stomach roared louder than mine. Next to them, a year-older young male stood, with white hair and white clothing. While the one who spoke, looked at me suspiciously, the blonde one grinned at me welcomingly, while the white haired one stare at me surprised and when I eyed him back, he blushed.

The strangest from the lot was a mark-wearing person. The mask itself had a large blanket of fur against the person's head and he carried a small light-orange coloured squirrel which squealed lightly, before it jumped from its master's shoulder and onto the ground, towards me. It seemed fearless, passing by the red-haired girl, as she smiled. She seemed to follow the instinct of the animal, as it fearlessly headed towards me and climbed up the dark crimson dress and onto the leather belt. It hit against the small incensory and jumped over the ground startling, squealing, as it quickly ran back to the red-haired girl's shoulder.

'Ao? What's wrong?'

'Sorry, it might be because of this', I said, as I hid away the burner into the inner side from my cloak.

'It's alright', the girl called Yona smiled to me kindly. 'Are you traveling on your own?'

I nodded and then she said: 'May I ask your name? I am called Yo… Rina!'

She lied too, in order to protect her identity for some reason, but I couldn't care less for her reasons. Generally, I did not enjoy the company of liars, but she did not seem to do it out of fear for me, but rather out of prudence.

'Yoko.'

Later, she presented her friends to me. The rather suspicious kid was called Yun, while the blonde haired one was called Zeno, and the white-haired Kija. There were two more male friends, one looking around eighteen years old, whom Yona referred to as Hak, while the other looked older and womanizer-like, with a dark green pony-tail and oriental clothing, called Jaeha.

Lastly, the masked person was a man as well and he was called Sinha. The small squirrel too had a name and it was called Ao. It belonged to the masked boy, although it often found its shelter in the red-haired girl's hands.

Yun cooked a nice meal for us all, and even though I was not entirely welcomed, it was understood that I would not be left behind. 'We should be reaching the mountains very soon', Yun said as he passed the bowls of food to the others. 'But at the same time, I think we should rest for the day, so the moment we exit the forest, we should head for the closest town and do some shopping before we head back onto the road.'

I was sitting by the blonde-haired boy who could not stop eating, as his stomach continued on gurgling. 'Aren't you through?' I asked him, and he grinned at me.

'Sorry, I seem to have an unstoppable will of eating.'

'Yoko-san?' I startled at my mother's name and then I looked at the red-haired girl. 'How is the food?'

'Oh, it's very good.'

'Yun is a very good cook, isn't he?'

I nodded almost complacently. The girl smiled to me and then she looked down onto the camp fire the boys built in soon after we gathered around. 'We've travelled a long way and under our own company. Yun might look like he is very suspicious. But he's a kind person who only does it out of care for his friends. I hope you did not take offense.'

I pressed my lips together and shook my head.

She smiled. 'You sing very nice. But I could not understand the words. May I assume Yoko-chan is not from here?'

'I'm not. But my family was.'

'Why is a beautiful girl such as yourself travelling all alone through the forest?' the green-haired man said in a slow soothing voice, as he leaned against a tree, with his bowl of dinner finished and placed onto the ground. He must have looked very cool and calmly on that position, yet there were a few drops from the warm broth Yun had cooked for us dripping from the side of his sleeve, so the man looked funny.

'Oh, Jaeha-kun enjoyed Yun-kun's dinner very much since he dripped it all over his clothing', Sinha said whispering seriously behind him. The man startled and make a squeaking sound.

'N-Nah… Sinha-kun, you should stop sneaking up on people like that…'

'Does Yoko-san know the area well?' Yun asked, as he frowned at me, placing his arms over his hips.

I shook my head. 'Not really. But I've met a man by the entrance to the woods and he gave me indications as to where I should head through if I wished to come out alive and well.'

I looked down at my legs and rubbed them. 'He also stared at my pouch and told me that there would not be any other I should meet through the woods for the rest of my journey, but since Rina-san and her friends are here, obviously he was lying.'

'Where is Yoko-san heading?'

'In a far-off town from the Sei area.'

There was a small pause in between the people around me, and only Ao and its master made no attempt at showing interest for what I had said.

'Sei kingdom, is it?' Hak said frowning.

'Yoko-san is born in Sei?'

'W-well. I guess I am. The truth is that I remember my mother giving birth to me in a small village in the Kouka kingdom. But my father is from Sei, and now that he's gone, I am to bring his remains to his home town.'

'And Yoko-san travels alone? That is very brave of you', Yona said smiling encouragingly.

I stared at her confused, frowning a little. 'W-well, it's not like I have a choice. I mean, if he asked me before he died, what could I have said or do?'

There was another pause before Ao jumped from its master's shoulder and onto the ground. It squealed as it made its way towards me once more and this time, since I was sitting down, he jumped across my legs and into my shoulder. It smoldered its cheek against mine, giggling and Yona smiled. 'It seems Ao likes Yoko-san very much.'

I stared at her confused and nodded. 'I suppose so.'


	2. Chapter 2

2.

Later that night, when the camp fire was gone and everyone fell asleep, except for Hak who stood awake in order to keep watch, I noticed him staring at someone hiding through the trees. I stood up and hid away without his knowledge and when I finally reached the point where he looked at, I could see the red-haired girl striking a tree trunk down with her arrow. Her hands were sore and cut at the lines of the fingers and her nails were bleeding lightly, but she seemed determined to practice with the bow and arrow. She had missed several arrows reaching their destination, and her arms were already shaking considerably from the strain, but all the time, she carried on her training.

I could see she too had voices in her head, speaking to her, concentrating on someone's voice, perhaps someone she loved, whom she thought of whenever she missed an arrow and let her guard down.

'Perhaps you should stop thinking', I said and just before she shouted lightly, she released the arrow by impulse and it went flying pass by my cheek, cutting it, while it aimed falsely towards the tree trunk. Evidently, the arrow missed, but Yona stared at me worried.

'Y-Yoko-san! I-I could have hurt you!'

'But you didn't. Because Rina's got something else on her mind when she practices.'

She smiled bitterly. 'Is it that obvious?'

I frowned and brushed the side from my long black hair behind my shoulder. 'I believe so. That happens to me as well, whenever I need to do something important and my mind is elsewhere.'

I came around, wiping the blood from my cut and once I reach her shoulders, Yona stared at me worried. 'I'm sorry I hurt Yoko-san. I did not mean to.'

'Daijoubu desu. Rina-san did not do it on purpose. How about you aim for the tree and imagine you did not miss a single arrow?'

She stretched the bow string with a trembling arm and I could see her fingers bled lightly as she stretched the arrow to its position as well. 'How about you think of someone who's done you a great deal of pain? Have you someone like this in your life, Rina-san?'

The string slipped and the arrow dropped. Yona leaned her head down quietly and I knew then that I had probably pinched on something sensitive.

'I-I'm sorry, Rina-san, I did not mean to upset you.'

There was a long pause before Yona lifted her head up and looked at me smiling softly. I knew she had forced the gesture in, but she did not seem to falter under the pressure, so I should have respected that. 'Yoko-san seems very knowledgeable on archery.'

'Agh… I-iie…'

'You seem to know. Could Yoko-san teach me a little?'

'B-but I'm not that good at this. My father was.'

'Father…?'

'Yes, uhm…' pushed aside the cloak and revealed the incensory, smiling softly. 'My father.'

She stared at the incensory for a while frowning lightly, and when she looked back at me, I could tell that she had a few questions to ask of me, but that she could not find the will or the composure to. I realized that perhaps she too had lost a parent once and that she suffered from it.

'Shitsurei n dake do… Yoko-san…is alone…?'

'Parentless, you mean?'

Yona nodded, so I looked around thoughtfully. 'Well, technically… y-yes. I mean, my father and mother passed away. And I have no siblings that I know of. But I have my father's ashes to carry around. So, in a sense, he is still with me. That is, until I reach his hometown and scatter his ashes around. He's always wanted to return there, but never had the chance.'

'Will Yoko-san have a long journey ahead?'

'I suppose I will. But I'm sure it will not be alone, for I'll have his remains with him.'

I then bent down and picked up the bow and arrow, giving them to Yona. She received them with trembling hands. 'W-what kind of father was Yoko-san's father?'

I rubbed my hands together and frowned. 'I'm not sure. How fathers should be, I mean. I was provided with food and shelter. And he taught me most of what he knew. The villagers feared him for some reason. They told tales of him and mocked him each time he passed by the local market. But he's never brought shame into the family and I've never considered him otherwise. I think he was brave not to let all the evil of the townsmen get to him or to the child he raised.'

There was a pause before we both sat down onto a large boulder. 'What was Rina-san's father like?'

The red-haired girl did not seem to want to answer this immediately and for a few seconds, I considered that perhaps I should not have asked this of her. After all, I had done little conversation with people not only because I was often considered my father's strange daughter, but also because I did not enjoy it very much. I was about to apologize once more, before this woman beside me breathed in and said: 'I… I am not sure either. Everyone seems to have known him differently than I.'

I frowned. 'Does it feel as if Rina-san does not know him at all sometimes?'

She looked down onto the ground and nodded. 'Then perhaps Rina-san and I are not so different from this point of view.'

'D-does it not hurt… sometimes?'

She looked at me with tears in her eyes. I seemed to lack the emotional skills which she did, for I never shed a tear against my father, even as he passed away and made me swear on his deathbed that I'd bring him home.

'W-well, it does. Sometimes. But I've grown motherless and with the knowledge that my origins are not from this place. My father always said that there will always people to like or dislike one and one's family. We could spend countless hours and years trying to get to know a person for who he really is, but in truth we will never achieve it. Not even Rina-san could know her entire self all that well, isn't it true?'

She seemed to startle and the tears stopped. 'Huh? Uh… uhm', she nodded quietly.

'Perhaps it makes no difference who our fathers were or what they have done. The most important things are the lessons they've taught her. Even with or without using words. Here, I'll show you something.'

And then I stood up and I took up the bow from at her feet. I picked up an arrow from the tree trunk and I settled it onto the bow stretching the strings. I was situated a few feet from the trunk itself and I felt strangely empowered with the knowledge of armoury, as my father's ashes burned under the pressure of the half empty incensory. I aimed for the middle of the trunk.

'I was never good with any weaponry because I did not think much of studying it. But what my father always told me, even in my most foolish of times, was that once you've figured out what you want to achieve, all you need is to concentrate on it. And right now, for example, I will focus on that arrow stuck in the tree trunk. I want to strike it down. I want to strike it down so hard, I want this arrow to go straight through the other one.'

I stretched the bow harder, while my muscles gradually began to feel the strain and tremble. When I let go of the arrow, I quickly bent down from the pain at my fingers and the one which quickly burst under the pressure of my chest bone.

'Yoko-san sugoi!'

'Are?!'

'Y-you've struck down the arrow in one shot! Just like Yoko-san wanted to!'

I lifted my head up and looked at the tree trunk confused. The arrow I'd just dropped had gone straight through the core of the other one I aimed for and its tip now had pushed the other deeper into the core of the tree, as the remains from the former laid scattered onto the ground or suspended in mid-air.

'I… well, I guess I did.'

'Yoko-san daijoubu?'

'Agh.. hai, daijoubu desu. Ki ni shinaide, Rina-san.'

'Yoko-san… your fingers… they're bleeding.'

'Well, your hands are sorer than mine. Rina-san should not strain herself too much. You have many friends to protect you.'

To this, she frowned and looked down at the remains from the arrow I'd gunned down. 'I am trying to teach myself to be less dependent of them. I want to become stronger, so that I would once protect them, as they protect me now.'

She looked at me frowning. 'Yoko-san ha motto tsuyoi.'

I smiled. 'Chigau yo! Tsuyokunai. But I think my father would have wanted me to.'

'I think Yoko-san's father would be proud. Yoko-san is already strong enough to make this journey on her own.'

'Well, like I said, I was left without a choice.'

She then told me of my voice and how she left drawn to come over and listen some more to how I sang. She asked of the language I used, and when I told her that it was something my mother used to teach me as a child, she asked me of her and I told her that she died at child birth. Rina proceeded to tell me painfully that she too knew very little of her mother and that she remembered almost nothing of her. I felt very similar to her, yet she looked like the kind of person who took everything wholeheartedly, whereas I sheltered my feelings away, as I tried to push forward without looking back.

'Could Yoko-san sing for me something now?'

'Well, I don't think I…'

'What was the song you sang on the river bank about?'

I breathed in and stared at her, how she concentrated on the person she spoke to, as if she were wholeheartedly and willfully wishing to know more of this kingdom's peoples. 'Well, I guess it was about love.'

'Love?'

There was a moment of silence, during which she looked down thoughtfully. 'Love…'

'I'm not entirely familiar with the feeling however.'

'S-sou desu ka…'

I smiled to her and then I began singing something else. This song was about the fire burning into someone's core, as she realizes that the person she loved had done the tragedy of lying and of cheating.

I set fire to the rain…

My voice was said to be very strong for a girl my age and it was often confused to a boy's. it was rugged and husky, but I was taught to speak like a man, simply because I had been raised by my father who never knew much of women, just as he knew so little of my mother. She came from a world of humans where the lands were divided into countries and these countries were governed by what they called presidents and emperors and kings, and sometimes leaders of the people themselves, those who foolishly lied to citizens into making them believe that they would speak out their problems and their concerns when the necessary time awoke. She came from a world where music and art were different, where people got to speak from a great distance without loving onto their feet, where the world was a large mixture of languages and of cultures, of people killing each other for money or for jealousy, for the evil and the greedy.

I thought of her voice, her strong-corded voice while she sang to me while I was under the care of her womb and how she taught me of these words and of their meaning, so that I would not be blinded by the sheer lack of knowledge. So, naturally, as I grew older and I began singing, I sang so strongly, I was forced or ushered into the woods, where I'd sing to my lungs' desire. There, I would have no one to fear or to usher me away.

Beside me, Yon listened looking down, imagining his song as if art of her own tale, and she sobbed as she listened to it, perhaps understanding to some extend its meaning and why I'd chose to sing it, instead of opting for a livelier one. Under the dark of the woods, the silence of the surrounding area, I could almost see the forest coming alive, the trees bending forward to meet with my words, the birds listening to the tone and recording it so they would in return know how to sing it later on.

When I was finished, Yona lifted up her head and smiled to me, although there were once more tears in her eyes. 'Kirei, Yoko-san!'

And then she stood up and brushed away her dress and cloak. 'Thank you for talking to me. Yoko-san is very kind.'

'Rina-san will go back to train with the bow and arrow?'

'I will.'

'To become strong?'

She smiled and nodded childishly, so I stood up as well and tilted my head to one side. 'Very well. Then should I keep Rina-san company?'

She shook her head. 'Nh. It's alright. Yoko-san should rest for the night.'

I nodded and walked away from the red-haired girl, but as I headed back to the camp side, I felt the presence of the tall black-haired young man whom Yona was travelling with, among the others. He seemed to stare at me frowning, as I passed by and I knew he could see me, even if there were several trees blocking the sight. I looked at him in return and I could see that he breathed in as if surprised to see that I would catch up on his glaring game.

But I did not return to the camp site. It was not my own to begin with. Instead, I headed for the pathway which led to the exit. I felt my father's incensory beside my hip, while I moved and I pressed the cloak against my hair. I thought of my father and of the various things he's taught me in life, even if he did not really show me how everything was done. I had grown powerful enough to take care of myself not because he had taught me everything he knew through facts, but rather because he had not shown me weakness of his own or love to determine my own emotional sacrifice. I was devoid of emotion not because I had a heartless father or a careless one, for that matter. But because through his ignorance and lack attention, I had been forced to rely on my own and not doubt that I would once fail in my attempts of succession.

There were clouds gathering above the night sky and I could barely see the stars once flooding the above level of darkness. I seemed to have awakened something in Yona, telling her how similar she and I were. I could hear her practice her bow and arrow game and I could tell that she had a fierce power hiding within her, smelling her victories and her fights, but I could not tell whether she truly believed she and I would ever be the same. She must have gone through a radical change in her life, whereas my failure as a human being had been planned from the very beginning. I did not belong in this world, as my mother perhaps did not belong into hers. And of course, there was this strange power my father had bestowed upon his remains and upon me, indefinitely.

I took the incensory into my hands and I began running with it away from the sight of human beings, for the power bestowed upon it was in truth overwhelming and hard to control, once I got annoyed enough to try to.

I did not make it far, though. For some reason, I ended up returning to the camp site, with the will to carry on aiding company to them. I finished the night listening to Yona's practice until I counted her two-hundredth arrow hit against the tree trunk and then herself collapsing on the ground tired. She commented on being tired and then I heard her creep back into the camp.

After a while, quietness settled in and I began to remember words in the language my mother used while I was unborn. I picked up the incensory and I opened its lid carefully. My father's ashes smelled of something strange ever since the day he had died. He had caught up on some plaguish kind of illness, the kind that turned the skin black and he claimed it must have been from his power passed down from generation to generation. He had told me once that, had I been his blood-related daughter, I would have inherited nonetheless, that it would not be passed down from the spirit of the dead onto the one of the living. But perhaps his power had a mind of its own, to pass down onto the next host, as it meant to survive willfully. It would strike onto the next of kin, even if no blood had been part of this kinship.

The smell reminded me of a field filled with flowers which I had dreamt on the day that he had passed away. He had told me of his departure, while I imagined the heavens calling into peace and inner spirituality.

Soon enough, the rain began to pour lightly, and while I shut back the incensory, the smell of the flower fields covered my nostrils. There was the impossibility of thinking of my father, for I had less memories of him than perhaps Yona had of hers.

'Oy!'

I startled and held the incensory into my hands, while I slowly placed it beside my hip, and then I slowly turned around to face the black-haired man called Hak.

'Shouldn't you be resting? Or at least, take shelter from the rain?'

'Perhaps I should.'

'Everyone's gathered under a nearby cave. You should join too.'

I turned around and stared at the dark forest. 'Rain never hurt anyone.'

I was left alone for a while, as the rain poured senselessly and finally when I stood up, I made my way through the forest and I finally found the cave that Hak mentioned of. He was standing guard by the entrance to the dark pit-like hole, and I could tell that everyone else inside was asleep. He must have dozed off as well, for he slightly startled, as he saw me, and he moved his large glaive in offensive mode. When he recognized me through the dark, he squinted, but rested his arm.

'It's you.'

And then we heard a loud crack somewhere and Hak stood up frowning. He placed his glaive upwards, and pulled away the cover wrapped around the blade.

'What was that?'

'I'm not sure.'

We waited for another source of sound coming from the very same direction, but nothing came about, and so the man beside me frowned harder and twisted his fingers around the handle form his weapon. 'Yoko-san, I think you should take shelter inside the cave.'

'It's alright. I'm not afraid.'

He seemed to startle and want to say something, but all he did was stare straight at me. I stared back at him. 'I'm really not. Not until I know what is going on.'

He made a small face and said: 'Henna onna da ne…'

'Sou ka na…'

And then the rustle began once more, before we both startled and listened to the silence of the night once more.

'I should wake the others.'

'I think you should not. They are safer there, than they are here. If you're afraid for their life, then perhaps you should join them, Hak-kun.'

He glanced at me frowning and grinned. 'Tsch! Like that's going to happen. You seem to have no sense of survivability though. I understand we have the Four Dragons by our side, but even they occasionally tremble at the sight of potential death.'

'I'm not afraid of death.'

And then I took a step forward. 'I should I be?'


	3. Chapter 3

3.

I asked then who was out there hiding, and behind me, Hak pulled up his glaive in offensive, as he stood in front of the entrance to the cave. Perhaps he wondered why his friends had not come up to face the possible danger alongside him, as they were all great warriors, but even I knew that there was something strange of this night, since the loud sound had crossed across the surface of the forest.

'I ask once more, who is there?'

And then the cracking sound gurgled across the surface of the wet muddy terrain, while a black figure made his way towards us. It was a broad-shouldered man in old clothing and rugged glance. He rubbed the side of his beard and seemed to squint at us. 'Uh, I'm sorry, i-it was me, I'm a-afraid!'

I heard Hak breathe in lightly beside me.

'Is that so?' I asked frowning, and the man seemed to stare straight at me for some reason. It felt as if he could not see Hak beside me.

'Sorry, I thought I would be the only one travelling alone in the woods. I am called Bon-hu. And you are?'

'I know who you are', I spoke before Hak did, and he stared frowning at me. 'I've seen your face before. You're the one to tell me of these woods and how I'd travel without a sight for human life for days, before I came out.' I frowned harder, offensively. 'You're the one to stare at my pouch.'

And then I felt my hand hot, as my clothing as well, drying up quickly under the drenchness from the rain, as the incensory of my father's ashes began to heat up quickly. The power…? It activated…?

'Ah, ii-ya da ne… t-that was…. Miss is too harsh, I wasn't going to… I mean, I didn't mean to scare you off, Nee-chan.'

I raise done eye-brow. 'you didn't seem to scare me at all, which seemed to annoy you at the beginning.'

'R-really?'

'Yes.'

'W-why would you say that?'

'Because you've said I'd definitely die under the weight from the dark forest if I travelled alone.'

'You've done a great deal of chatting with the fellow, haven't you, Yoko-san', Hak commented ironically beside me.

I stared at him frowning. 'It's not my fault the man was the chatty type.'

'Perhaps you should stick to the rule of not speaking to strangers so much?'

'I did not do it on purpose.'

Hak breathed in once more in accordance to saying something wise, but he stared at me thoughtfully. 'I understand this, but one day this might get Yoko-san in trouble.'

'I-I mean no harm!'

And with this, the incensory burned so bright, it almost felt as if caught fire, so my hand pressed against it, but I instantly burned myself. At the same time, I shouted at the man: "Usotsuke!"

'Janai yo!'

'It's a lie, I can tell when someone's lying! You mean to take the pouch away from me, because you think there is something of value in it!'

'Now, that's not…!'

'It's true. It's true and I can prove it. If your lips turn black, it's because you're lying!'

For some reason, the man startled and placed his hand over his lips, as if I had cursed at him, but before he removed it to say anything and before Hak beside me did something to prevent an argument, I pushed away the cloak and revealed the incensory catching up a lighter colour than before.

'Are! Kore ha nani?!'

'This will burn brightly only when someone's lied. And this time, it's boiling. I don't like liars, I think they should be burned down and my father always agreed with me on this. So now, this incensory stings with the desire to burn you down, because you're lying.'

Hak startled and place don hand over my shoulder worriedly. 'N-now, Yoko-san, I don't think there's any need for you to - … Ha?!'

The man removed his hand slowly from over his mouth and revealed his blackened lips, the colour of blood from within turning so pitch dark, it was almost hard to see whether the man had an actual mouth or a dark pitch from which hell was hiding. Hak startled beside me and put up his glaive offensively.

'His lips…!'

'I told you he is lying.'

3.

There was a dark aura surrounding the area in which the man stood now, as he eyed me down, as if I were twice as small against his magnificence. My father taught me hard not to lower against those who deemed me inferior without any reason.

So I stood now brave against one of my first foes, the very first to provoke me into realizing that perhaps father's power was of some good, even if for a small period of time. As a child, my father had been raised by the priests in the village and he considered words and loyalty of value. His sense of communication lacked and he used very few words to convey his feelings, but rather, he grew to hate liars and those who deemed people less than their own value, even if their value on itself was lower.

Throughout time, my father grew to be such strong a hater that he gathered all his might upon this task in his inner self, gradually transforming it into power. He had not been born to hate or to judge those unfair, as a god would, but he had been born to somewhat cleanse the world of liars or at least, to teach his only daughter to do the very same.

Now, the incensory burned without my knowledge, resting on my palm, as it grew brighter, as much as the man's lips blackened. He grew to be a shadow in despair, a wanton soul restless, craving for attention and for victimization.

Time seemed to have stopped for some reason, until it grew too loud not to feel.

'Musume ja! Itte ne…What have you in the pouch?'

I startled, but the large black glaive rested against my sight, protecting me from the enemy. 'Yoko.'

I looked up at Hak, as he stared frowning at the man, and for some reason, I imagined Yona looking the same way at him. He looked like the kind of person anyone would most likely have around, for he made both an awesome enemy as well as an ally and a friend. I knew very little of his companions, of the girls he most likely had feelings for or of the manner of his living before our paths came across.

But the way he had placed the glaive between me and the man as a sign that he would be willing to protect me to the very end, the manner of his low voice and his offensive stance against the foe, reminded me of my father and of his will to fight against those who lied and cheated.

'W-what is it?'

'Don't answer this man's question. Now hide behind me.'

'I'll be fine.'

Hak turned to eye me frowning. 'I'd rather Yoko hide behind me. Now!'

I held my father's incensory against my chest, regardless if it began burning incessantly and I backed up one pace. After this, for some reason, I grabbed the side of Hak's clothing into my light fist and the warmth from the incensory somehow passed through my veins and against his body. He straightened up and his muscles twisted with his fingers bursting tightly against the handle from the glaive.

'What is…?!' he startled looking down, and then at the man in front of us, and finally to me. 'This power…'

He stared at me intently, still shaken, as if taken by surprise. 'I will protect Hak instead.'

But before we could exchange any further words, the man's hand suddenly stretched ahead unknowable and it rushed to grab my neck, as its skin turned black and slithering, its body growing twice his size in a matter of seconds. There was smoke coming from in between his lips, as he seemed to spit a kind of black oozing saliva which once touching the ground, seemed to start burning the ground into ash, where it dropped.

'Give me the pouch!'

'Yoko!'

'Don't touch me, you filth!'

My father's spirit grew wider, a sit reached a gaping through the incensory and pushed against the smoke coming from the monster in front of us. The light which he brought along with him, blinded the creature, into growling, screeching and finally dropping on the ground without escape. It started to move around and its skin turned blacker and blacker, until it became a mass of flesh and smoke altogether.

My eyes shifted colour and my hands grew stronger, my mind blank and imagining only that I would be a man in his late forties, with a nerve for wrecking liars and a twist of hatred against the evil of this world.

'Show me the pouch, wench!'

Hak stood behind me, with my glaive in an offensive position, staring at the beast for a while, before he eyed me. I could see him staring at the pouch itself, as it hid somewhere behind the belt from around my waist, half hidden underneath the cloak. He had not noticed before, but now he had, as his body tensed and stared at something which no longer could be considered a frail your sixteen-year-old woman. I felt strong and I felt my father overpowering my body in exchange for the power he withheld for so long a time, after he had banished from the world.

'Yoko…'

'What have you in the pouch?'

The monster stood up coughing black ooze, as it began wobbling about his legs, but before he could make another move against us, I pushed up my hand and for some reason, he seemed to stop moving at all. Instead, it felt as if my hands were around his neck clutching it hard, in an attempt to kill, even if that meant that I would live with the guilt.

'What business is that of yours?'

'I need to know, wench. Y-Your hands… your hands… what… what are you… doing?'

I brought up both my arms angrily, staring at the monster whom I could not physically touch, for I was standing a few feet away from him, but the hatred my father had for such kind was abnormally strong, and his spirit seemed to stretch his limbs until he had reached the wretched animal within a few seconds. It felt as if I now strangled him with my hands around his neck.

'I don't like liars.'

The monster seemed to begin dancing its limbs around, striking down the ground with its burning ooze, the boiling black blood from inside squinting, squashing, splashing sideways, and soon enough Hak backed away using his glaive to dodge.

'Y-Yoko!'

He finally placed a firm hand over my shoulder. 'Yoko, that's enough, you should take cover.'

But I could not take my hands away, for the will of my father was to kill and never release, until the deed was done and over with. I could see his eyes piercing through me as he handled my arms with care so to achieve his wish and not my own. There was black smoke coming from the incensory and it circled against my arms, as they stretched higher to strangle the poor possessed man and before long, the demon within him perished under the pressure of too much black ooze dripping from the man's eye sockets and lips.

The man now slowly became human, weak and helpless, while my hands still clasped at his neck to suffocate. As soon as he realized the danger of perhaps killing an innocent man, Hak pushed his glaive upwards and began to press my hands against with it, as if trying to bend them downwards.

'Y-Yoko… T-that's enough…'

'Gomen.'

Now, I could hear the man chocking sounds, the coughing of real red blood, his weakling hands wobbling about, the eyes pushed out from their eye-sockets, the wish and the lie no longer there. The innocent was right in front of me, yet I could not stop from forgiving, for my father was unforgiving with those who had lied to him even once.

'Yamete Yoko!'

'G-gomen…'

'P-please stop… I… I didn't mean…'

The glaive began to feel effective, although not entirely, it bent deformingly as it tried to push my hands downwards. Even I tried pushing one against the other downwards, unclutching my fingers one by one, but the grip was too strong.

 _You cannot forgive this man for he has lied. And so many others shall before you. If you let him live, he will spread the lie. And then others will take lesson of it and lie as well. The lies will then grow harder, stronger until the world is a giant ball of hatred, misery and of lies. The web would stretch far beyond our imagination, chocking us, crushing us into abominable pain and sorrow. You will do well, child, you kill this man, for he is but the thorn from which many a fingers shall prick and spread the disease._

 _He's done nothing wrong, for a demon resided in him._

 _We do not deal with demons, but we do deal with common sense and righteousness. Will you not wish to be righteous and devoted to a world of peace and of valor? Will you not wish to fight with me against liars and ill-bringers?_

 _He's but only one, father, there will be thousands in this world._

 _And you will fight them all! Until they are all eradicated!_

 _It dawned on me then that my father's desire of being returned home was not entirely for himself alone. He had wished me to bring him home not because he had wished his ashes be spread against the surface of his homeland, but rather because he wished his power restored to its rightful place, a place secluded and unbearable to the outside world. He wished that this power be taken to safety and be used by those deemed willing enough to succumb to its will, as he had been perhaps throughout his lifetime._

 _Perhaps the real demon in this tale was not the disease of lies and ill in this world, but rather this power alone, as it created masses of anger waves and of abominable desire for destruction or eradication of evil. It was his will to say that I would not be worthy or strong enough to carry such a burden, therefore it would have been best if I had left it at home._

 _I understand now. You need me to take it home. Home where it would be safe from harm._

 _That would mean that you may die, child._

 _I will not. I'll take it home, father._

So, my hands slowly and shakingly began moving downwards. They began to descend heavily, unwillingly as if unwanting, forced to bit others' bidding.

Soon, I was able to move away one hand and press it against Hak's as he held the glaive struggling. He startled and stared at me down, before he took away the weapon and finally, I gradually took control of my own arms. He stared at the poor man in front of us and as soon as he was released, he seemed to struggle to regain his balance and his breathing. Soon enough, just before Hak tried to help him up, the man garbled against the ground, shouted gruffly, and fled through the woods in search for shelter.

My hands were shaking visibly, yet I knew the first battle had been over and done with.

I fell down on a boulder to regain my breathing and my strength. I startled when Hak knelt before me frowning hard, staring me with his blue eyes.

'I suppose Yoko will not tell us what that was about.'

'I… I'm sorry, I can't. I promised father I would not.'

He nodded and looked at me intently. 'Hmm.'

'I thank Hak for trying to help however. I am very sorry to have made you gone through all that trouble.'

'Hn.'

We spoke nothing for a while, and Hak stood beside me, looking around, searching for the man who had perhaps ran off into the woods in fear for his life.

'This is a dangerous place', he said finally.

My hands were burned and they were red from the incensory which had almost caught flame sin my hands. Before, I had not minded the pain or felt the hot metal eating at my flesh, but now, the pain was there and the absence of layers of skin was unbearable.

'Baka!'

I startled when Hak took my hand and examined it frowning hard. 'You're hurt and you've said nothing!'

'W-well, I didn't realize I was.'

'Have you no sense of survival or of pain?'

I smiled softly: 'I, uhm… I guess I don't.'

But I was surprised when he clutched my hand by the wrist and pulled me downhill, towards the nearby river. I looked at him, at his broad shoulders and strong muscular body, the height of his dark blue clothing and I wondered if my father had been this caring to my mother, before I was born.

He carefully took us down the slope, towards the river and once we reached the bank, he pulled me towards the water and then made me crouch beside him, as he placed both my hands under the cold water and began pouring water over them with one hand. He was so concentrated on this task that perhaps he did not realize I was staring at him. When he finally did, he slightly turned red in his cheeks.

'N-nan desu ka?'

'Nande mo nai desu.'

He frowned at stared at me quizzically, but he still kept true to his original task.

'Yoko ha okashii.'

'Shitteru.'

'Shitteru-te nani?! You should not say that you know, idiot, you should stand up and say something in defense!'

'W-well, what can I say if it's the truth?'

'Maybe I didn't mean to say it like that, maybe I wanted Yoko to say something against!'

I smiled. 'Hak ha okashii.'

'Okashii janai.' He commented under his teeth.

'Only a bit then.'

'Not even a bit.'

He looked at me, while I looked at his hands pressing against mine underwater. 'Alright.'

Hak continued to wash my hands for a while, before I said: 'I will leave at the break of dawn.'

'Hn.'

'I know that she's lied.'

His washing stopped and his fingers pressed against mine hard. Normally, for someone as injured as myself, I would have thought of shouting, but I had been born immune to pain since a very young age. Therefore, his unintentional hurting could not be too affective of myself.

'Nani?!'

'She lied. About who she is. Your friend. Her name is not Rina. And it's not because I recognize her or know her in any way. but I heard your other friend, Yun, call her by her real name.'

He stared frowning at me, but I pushed my hands away slowly. 'That's why I will leave at dawn. This power… it has a will of its own and it will react once it meets up with someone who's told a lie. I am certain it would come to no harm against her, for she's done it out of obligation. But I can't rely on that alone. Besides, she is a kind enough person. I could not risk anything. Hak understands because he seems to want to protect her with his ow life. At any cost. So I will respect that and leave.'

'Yoko…'

'I don't know who you are or why you are travelling together, but I sense that you have a perilous journey head, as mine. And I believe you will succeed better than I. Because you will have each other to protect.'

'Hn.'

'I will give Hak some of my own strength to better yourself and you protect her even more.'

And with this said, I brought up both hand injured palms and pressed them against his temples, before Hak could say anything. He startled and widened his eyes, with his hands clutching against my wrists, but he did not push them away. Instead, I could see in his eyes that the power I'd spoken of passed onto him, healing the fatigue and the strain from his body instantly. For some reason, he seemed to loosen up, relax and breath in hard, as his chest inhaled and exhaled slowly, leisurely.

When I took my hands away, he seemed to lean differently on his two feet. 'Yoko. Thank you.'

'Hak is very welcome. I could have given it to her, but I could not touch her. Not with my father's power. Not until I bring it home safely.'

And then we headed back to the camp fire and while I gathered my stuff, the sunlight almost showed itself catching fire against a crimson-like morning sky, with the forest gradually coming back to life.

It felt surreal to see so many birds chirping through the trees and even if my father's power had kept those innocent safely tucked inside the cave, I could not help imagine that he would have done the same to Hak, had he too not been keeping an eye over everyone at night.

As promised, I readied myself for the journey and said my goodbyes before everyone woke. I thanked them for their kindness and their company in my head, as I faced the hidden cave and then I turned around to find Hak behind me, holding my baggage in one hand. He was smiling.

'Yoko is off then.'

'Yes, I think I am ready. I know now more than I knew before. And perhaps I'll know even more when this journey's done.'

I nodded and leaned against his glaive. 'Thanks for the help.'

'W-well, I could not have said goodbye without leaving something to remember.'

He bent down and looked into my golden-like eyes. He smiled softly and I had never seen a handsome man before smile like that. He lightly brushed his lips against my cheek and then pressed them as they were. When my hand touched his shoulder, I gave a flinch of more power from the previous night, as if in gratitude. He now seemed to receive the gift lightly, without being frightened. He looked refreshed and overpowering.

'I will see Yoko when this journey's done.'

'I will see Hak then as well.'

I placed a light kiss against his cheek as well, before I left and headed for the downhill side from the river. I waved to him, just before I turned around and continue don my journey. Hak too waved in return.

After this, I began to sing my way to my father's homeland. It would have been a long journey, but I would have him by my side.

End


End file.
